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As seasons turn and days grow shorter, the shadows cast upon TTU lengthen. This is a time of dissolution and a time of division; a time of plots set in motion, and others unraveled.
Those conflicts, of course, are far from over. The EventGoldMurders are proof enough of that: One of the country's most strident anti-theri voices assassinated, along with his whole family and several others who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yet the public reaction was muted. Despite the outrage, the event taking over the news, and the national obsession, there were no mass protests or political backlashes. Nothing on the scale of EventTheExecutiveOrder emerged to galvanize anyone. As fundamentalists shouted about theris, theris shouted about fundamentalists, and pundits shouted about everybody, people contented themselves with watching the fighting on TV.
The fallout of the Gold Murders would ultimately break apart the fragile coalitions on both sides. Redwing, in particular, suffered a significant loss of prestige among theris; he was attacked for being so conciliatory after a bitter opponent's death, and even more so for getting swept up in the Gold murders and ignoring what many saw as the more important EventValdineVerdict. But his approach resonated with many humans; as such, fundamentalists' outcry and the renewed calls for war from the most radical preachers failed to find a wider foothold. The result was that both theris and right-wingers acrimoniously split into extremist and moderate wings, almost as bitter at their former allies as at their enemies.
Is it any wonder that the prevailing mood of this era is a sort of casual cynicism? Allies are becoming disillusioned with each other, and the public is becoming weary of each new development turning into a crisis. If the apocalypse was going to start over seven deaths, it would have come after EventTheFlyby; if hot rhetoric could lead to war, EventTheMeeting's aftermath was the place to start it.
This is an era of outrage fatigue. While the media still obsessively covers therianthropes, magic, and theri/mage issues good and bad, the public is increasingly refusing to accept as a given that theris are noteworthy just for existing or that any given provocation could lead to the war Redwing once threatened. (Redwing's moderation certainly didn't hurt that opinion shift.)
In this era, at last, the news story //du jour// isn't the first thing on everyone's mind. Your characters should be starting to find their own interests, explore their own destinies, rather than struggling against the tide of events. They should also be finding that people who they have considered allies for months may not be chasing those same goals. The urgency of maintaining a solid front with others of "your kind" is fading; last era's causes and crusades are starting to build individual prominence, and even close-knit groups may find themselves fragmenting as their members pull in those different directions.
The Winter of Discontent era is also one where forces are beginning to move behind the scenes -- subtle forces that patiently rode out the chaos of TheChanges. With alliances realigning and leaders struggling to control infighting, history finds itself painted in the small prods of invisible hands rather than the great sweeps of big names.
"Now is the winter of our discontent" is the first line of Shakespeare's "Richard III." The play opens with that winter "made glorious summer by this sun of York"; but in TTU, that thawing doesn't happen until much later.

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As seasons turn and days grow shorter, the shadows cast upon TTU lengthen. This is a time of dissolution and division; a time of treachery and betrayal; a time of plots set in motion, and others unraveled.
But they are far from over. The EventGoldMurders are proof enough of that: One of the country's most strident anti-theri voices assassinated, along with his whole family and several others who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
//rxn//
Forces are beginning to move behind the scenes -- forces that patiently rode out the chaos of TheChanges and schemed to control the uneasy alliances forged in its aftermath.
//in progress//
"Now is the winter of our discontent" is taken from Shakespeare's "Richard III." The play itself opens with that winter "made glorious summer by this sun of York"; in TTU, that thawing doesn't happen until later on.

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>> //Friday, August 22, 1997 - Thursday, December 18, 1997//
**Starts with:** EventGoldMurders
**Ends with:** First anniversary of EventTheFirstSighting
As seasons turn and days grow shorter, the shadows cast upon TTU lengthen. This is a time of dissolution and division; a time of treachery and betrayal; a time of plots set in motion, and others unraveled.
In this era, TheChanges' instant heroes are starting to fade from memory. Day-to-day life has become more predictable, and the world is more fully adjusting to magic. The conflicts (ideological and otherwise) that boiled through half a year of history are cooling to a lengthy simmer.
But they are far from over. The EventGoldMurders are proof enough of that: One of the country's most strident anti-theri voices assassinated, along with his whole family and several others who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
//rxn//
Forces are beginning to move behind the scenes -- forces that patiently rode out the chaos of TheChanges and schemed to control the uneasy alliances forged in its aftermath.

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>> //XXXday, August X, 1997 - Thursday, December 18, 1997//
**Starts with:** EventTheFlyby
**Ends with:** EventTheMeeting
With the turning of the seasons and the days growing shorter, the shadows cast upon TTU have lengthened. This is a time of dissolution, dissipation, and departure. A time of division, treachery, and betrayal. A time of plots set in motion, and others unraveled.
This is an era where forces are starting to move behind the scenes, having patiently rode out the chaos of TheChanges and taken stock of the alliances forged in its aftermath. As day-to-day life becomes more predictable and the world more fully adjusts to magic, the conflicts (ideological and otherwise) that have been shaping history drop their public face -- but they are far from over.

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=====Era: Winter of Discontent=====
>> //XXXday, August X, 1997 - Thursday, December 18, 1997//
With the turning of the seasons and the days growing shorter, the shadows cast upon TTU have lengthened. This is a time of dissolution, dissipation, and departure. A time of division, treachery, and betrayal. A time of plots set in motion, and others unraveled.
... Not that most of the world cares, or even notices.
This is an era where forces are starting to move behind the scenes, having patiently rode out the chaos of TheChanges and taken stock of the alliances forged in its aftermath. As day-to-day life becomes more predictable and the world more fully adjusts to magic, the conflicts (ideological and otherwise) that have been shaping history drop their public face -- but they are far from over.
//in progress//
==Notes==
"Now is the winter of our discontent" is taken from Shakespeare's "Richard III." The play itself opens with that winter "made glorious summer by this sun of York"; in TTU, that thawing doesn't happen until later on.

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=====Era: Nation On The Brink=====
>> //Wednesday, January 1, 1997 - Thursday, January 9, 1997//
Most therianthropes headed into 1997 full of optimism, convinced that they had already weathered the worst of the public opinion roller-coaster ride. They were wrong.
The Flyby, for the first time, undeniably painted theris as the villains. A public that had been willing to let their inner fears be calmed by theris' good deeds suddenly found themselves confronting those fears. Today, 13 in Times Square ... how many tomorrow? Why //hadn't// there been other similar tragedies, and what was stopping more of them from occurring? Suddenly, doomsayers' warnings didn't seem quite so hysterical.
Historians still debate if the worst of it could have been avoided -- if shedding the blood of the Flyby Three might have appeased the public's newfound rage and grief. But many theris, who understandably felt the Three were facing execution over an innocent mistake, weren't about to let that happen. CharacterDennisRedwing was among them, and throwing his star power into their defense nearly crystallized those fears into open conflict.
Redwing started the showdown with his announcement that he would represent the Three to negotiate their surrender if prosecutors would rule out the death penalty. The FBI's detention of Redwing and their threats to charge him as well upped the ante. Redwing's much-publicized escape gave both sides a personal stake. Further escalation then seemed inevitable, but not even pessimistic theris were prepared for EventTheExecutiveOrder. The gauntlet had been thrown.
The order's 72-hour deadline crawled closer, minute by minute. The whole country, and much of the world, watched and waited -- amid fierce debate, and growing speculation as high-profile theris maintained a strict silence.
Ironically, it was largely that silence that turned the terms of the debate around. Mass media, unable to sustain its focus on theri reaction, shifted its gaze to the order itself. The visions of some of the order's most vocal proponents were brought to light -- new spy and police structures to weed out hidden theris from the humans they resembled; "purges"; and other civil-liberties nightmares. That kicked off a legal and political counterattack whose rhetoric became blistering even in theris' absence. Between that and the outing of one or two significant political figures -- emphasizing how deep any enforcement of the order would have to dig -- some began to wonder if this cure wouldn't be worse than the disease.
And so the stage was set for the surprise unveiling of The Meeting and Redwing's declaration of defiance. The combined voice of over a thousand theris and mages gave one response to the relocation order: //"No. And if you make us, there will be war."//
EventTheExecutiveOrder
//"[[http://www.potw.org/archive/potw351.html Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.]]"// - W.B. Yeats
The theme of this era of TTU is of a steep and accelerating spiral toward destruction. The average human or theri is powerless in the face of their leaders' grand designs; those leaders are themselves
powerless in the face of events. Caught in the grip of history, everyone is simply struggling to protect their life and lifestyle.
In true Cold War style -- a not inappropriate comparison, considering that one of the doomsday scenarios discussed in the media after EventTheMeeting was a mage teleporting a nuclear bomb out of the U.S.' arsenal into a major city -- both sides could only escalate the conflict in hopes of finding a threat whose consequences would be too dire to risk. After EventTheMeeting, an equilibrium would finally be reached, but during this era it was far from clear that the titans' clash could be stopped short of deadly force.
While EraDragonInTheStreets may have caused more uncertainty and even panic, this era is the leader in terms of raw fear. If they're contacted by Redwing or one of his agents, theris cling to The Meeting like a log in a whirlpool; if they're not, theris must decide how to deal with a command that is as world-shattering to them as The Changes were to ordinary humans. Those humans, meanwhile, are getting flashbacks to a paranoia of helplessness not seen since the "Duck and Cover" days.
Many people try to maintain a semblance of real life in this era -- after all, most adults have some Cold War experience and Mutually Assured Destruction isn't a new idea -- but everyone keeps one ear to the news, wondering just how bad it's going to get. After EventTheExecutiveOrder, troops are back out on the streets (although subtly, as peacekeepers); the U.S. has again ground to a near-halt; and things don't start to thaw until the country steps back from the edge.